tea/Documentation/ReleaseBranchingStrategy.rst

Release and Branching Strategy

When maintaining TYPO3 extensions, developers often need to support multiple TYPO3 Long-Term Support (LTS) versions simultaneously. This typically requires a clear release and branching strategy to manage development and maintenance across different TYPO3 versions.

There are two common strategies for managing branches when supporting multiple TYPO3 LTS versions.

Table of Contents:

Approach 1: One branch for multiple TYPO3 LTS versions

In this approach, there is a single main branch that receives new features and updates, while supporting multiple TYPO3 LTS versions at the same time.

The downside of this approach is that it may require some version-dependent code switches, which can increase complexity. However, the major advantage is that there is only one branch to maintain, making it easier to implement new features and code changes across all supported TYPO3 versions.

This approach simplifies the maintenance of the extension and is preferred when minimizing maintenance overhead is the primary concern.

Approach 2: Separate branch per TYPO3 LTS version

In this approach, there is one main branch for each TYPO3 LTS version. This means that each branch exclusively supports a single TYPO3 LTS version.

The advantage here is that version-specific code can be used without requiring version-dependent switches, reducing complexity in the codebase. However, this approach increases the maintenance burden, as any new features or updates must be applied to each branch individually.

This approach may be necessary when there are significant differences between TYPO3 LTS versions or when you want to avoid version-dependent code.

Conclusion

The appropriate release and branching strategy depends on the specific requirements of the extension and the TYPO3 versions you are supporting. If reducing maintenance complexity is a priority, using a single branch for multiple versions is often the better choice. However, if you need to tailor your extension for each version, a separate branch for each version may be more suitable.